Automatic door-latch.



L. J. LINDSAY.

AUTOMATIC DOOR LATCH.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9, 1914.

1,103,594. Patented July 14, 191 1 m'fn eases 1; Ventor LEROY J. LINDSAY, or SEYMOUR, IowA.

AUTOMATIC DO0RLATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 14, 1914.

Application filed February 9, 1914. Serial No. 817,715.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lnnor a citizen of the United States, and resident of Seymour, in the county of 'VVayne and State of Iowa, have invented a certain new and useful Automatic Door-Latch, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a door latch of simple, durable and inexpensive construction. 1

More particularly it is my object to provide a latch for swinging doors, comprising coacting parts designed to be attached respectively to the door and to the building on which the door is swung, the parts being so arranged and constructed that when the door is swung open to a certain point, the parts become locked together and hold the door against further movement until said parts are disengaged from their locked positions.

My invention consists in certain details, in the construction, combination and arrangement of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a front elevation of a portion of a door and wall on which the door is hinged, with my improved automatic latch installed thereon. Fig. 2 shows a top or plan view of the door and latch, the wall of the building being shown in section. Fig. 3 shows a vertical sectional view through the latch, taken on the line 3-8 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 shows a front elevation of the latch in its locked position.

In the accompanying drawing I have employed the reference numeral 10 to indicate generally the wall of a building which is provided with a door opening 11 in which is hung a door 12, by means of hinges 13. It is desirable in many instances that a swinging door be left open for various purposes and also that some means be provided for securing the door in its open position. It is also desirable that said means be so constructed and arranged that the latch device be automatically locked when the door is swung open. For accomplishing these desirable ends I have provided my improved automatic latch which comprises a fiat bar 14, having near one end the hole 15 located above the longitudinal center of the bar 14. The bar 14 is pivotally secured either to the J. LINDSAY,

wall 10 or the door 12 as may be desired and may be secured by means of a staple 16 one prong of which is extended through the opening 15, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The bar 14 must be'pivoted to swing both 1n a horizontal and vertical plane. The coacting bar 17 is slidably mounted on the bar 14 by means of a loop 18 secured to the bar 17 and encircling the bar 14 and a loop 19 secured to the bar 14 and encircling the bar 17. The bar 17 is pivotally mounted on ,the bar 12 to swing in a vertical plane and also in a horizontal plane with relation to sald door. The bar 17 may be mounted in the following way. In the lower edge of the bar 17 near the end thereof which is secured to the bar 12 is a notch 20 which may be dropped over one prong of the staple 21,

ner as to be frictionally engaged so that said latch 22 is frictionally held in any position in which it may be put. In the upper edge of the latch 22 is a notch 24 designed to receive a prong of the staple 21 which is in the notch 20 when the latch member 22 is raised, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. Secured to the bar 14 at a suitable point between its ends and below the longitudinal center thereof is a stop 25. Formed in the upper edge of the bar 17, preferably near the end thereof which is secured to the bar 12, is a notch 26 of sufficient width to permit the loop 19 to drop into said notch.

Assuming that my improved latch has been installed on a door and wall in a suitable manner, such for instance, as has been hereinbefore described, its practical operation is aS follows: When the door is closed, the loops l8 and 19 are comparatively close together, as shown in Fig. 1 and the bars 14 and 17 are in their extended position. \When the door 12 is swung open, the bar 17 slides on the bar 14 toward the staple 16. The parts are so located and arranged that when the door has reached a certain point, the loop 18 engages the stop 25. On account of the location of the stop 25, below the median line and the location of the opening 15 above the median line of the bar 14, it follows that when the loop 18 strikes the stop 25, the tendency is to cause the end of the bar 14 on which the loop 19 is mounted to drop downwardly and the loop 19 drops into the notch 26. I have found by considerable experiment with the ,door latches of this general type that unless some means is provided for causing the loop to drop into the notch 26 there" are occasions when the door is opened rapidly and the bars 14: and 17 slide ra idly with relation to each other when the 00p 19 will slide over the notch 26 and will not drop into it, such adifiiculty is wholly overcome by the arrangement of the stop 25 and the hole 15 herein set forth. It will be understood that the ends of the latch device may be reversed with relation to the door and wall and if desired the latch may be permanently secured either tothe door or wall, at one end, while it is detachably secured by means of the latch device 22 to the other. Thus it would be possible to secure one end of the latch device to a wall surface arranged in a vertical plane at right angles to the vertical plane of the door when closed.

The advantages of my improved latch are largely seen from the foregoing description. A person opening the door need not touch the latch and in case of a Wide door may stand at the free edge thereof and not even be within reach of the latch and the door may be swung away from the person. The latch however will engage automatically and hold the door in its open position. To disengage the latch it is only necessary to raise the bar 1 1 until the loop 19 clears the sides of the notch 26 and to close the door.

Some changes may be made in the details of the construction of my device without departing from its essential features and it is my intent to cover by this application any such changes which may be included within the scope of the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A door latch comprising a bar pivotally mounted at one end at a point on one side of its longitudinal center to swing in horizontal and vertical planes, a stop on said bar arranged on the other side of its longitudinal center, a second bar slidably mounted on said first bar and provided with a notch in its upper surface, the bars being capable of sliding vertical movement with relation to each other, said first bar being provided with means designed to be received in said notch in one of the relative Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

positions of the bars, said second bar being plvotally mounted to swing in vertical and horizontal planes and being provided with means for engaging said stop when said first means is above sa1d notch, said bars being pivoted respectively to a support and to a door.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a wall having a door openlng and a door hinged therein, arranged to swing horizontally, with a bar pivoted at one end with the point on one side of its longitudinal center to saidwall and provided with a stop on the other side of its longitudinal center, a second bar slidablv mounted on said first bar and provided with means for engaging said stop, said. second bar being provided with a notch in its upper surface and being pivoted at one end to said door to swing in horizontal and vertical planes, said first bar being provided with means designed to be received in said notch when said first means engages said stop.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a wall and a door hinged thereto to swing horizontally, with a latch device comprising a bar pivotally mounted .at one end at a point above its longitudinal center on said wall, and provided with a of its, movement with relation to the second bar,'each of said bars being provided with a loop fixed on and receiving the other bar, the loop on the second bar being designed to engage said stop device in one of the positions of the bars, said second bar being provided with a notch designed to be below the loo-p on the first bar when the loop on the second bar engages said notch. Des Moines, Iowa, February 8, 1914'.

LEROY J. LINDSAY.

Witnesses:

CARL J OHNSON, NELLIE WARE.

Washington, I). C. 

